‘Buckwild’ cast member dies in his car

MORGANTOWN, West Virginia - MTV said Wednesday it is canceling its West Virginia-based reality TV show “Buckwild” a week after the accidental death of 21-year-old star Shain Gandee.

Network spokesman Jake Urbanski confirmed the news, saying it was “not an easy decision.”

“But given Shain’s tragic passing and essential presence on the show, we felt it was not appropriate to continue without him,” the network said. “Instead, we are working on a meaningful way to pay tribute to his memory on our air and privately.”

On Sunday, MTV will air a special, “Buckwild: WV to the NYC,” which was shot before second-season filming had begun. The network said Shain’s parents, Dale and Loretta Gandee, support the move.

Gandee and two others were found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning on April 1. Gandee’s SUV was stuck in a mud pit near his home in Sissonville, its tail pipe submerged. That could have allowed the invisible gas to fill the vehicle’s cabin.

Gandee, his 48-year-old uncle, David Gandee, and 27-year-old friend Donald Robert Myers had last been seen leaving a bar at 3 a.m. March 31.

Friends and family searched all day for them, and authorities issued a missing-persons report the following day.

The Gandees were buried Sunday after a joint memorial service in Charleston that drew hundreds of friends, family and fans. Cameras were not allowed inside the Charleston Municipal Auditorium or at the private family burial in Thaxton Cemetery.

Shain Gandee, nicknamed “Gandee Candy” by fans, was a breakout star of the show that followed the antics of young friends enjoying their wild country lifestyle. Season one was filmed last year, mostly around Sissonville and Charleston.

Gandee favored four-wheelers, pickups and SUVs over cellphones and computers, and “mudding,” or off-road driving, was one of his favorite pastimes. It was no coincidence some mourners arrived in mud-splattered trucks.

Shooting was underway on season two at the time of Gandee’s death, but MTV said film crews were not with him over Easter weekend and hadn’t filmed him since earlier that week.

MTV said the half-hour series in the old “Jersey Shore” time slot was pulling in an average of three million viewers per episode since its premiere and was the No. 1 original cable series on Thursday nights among 12- to 34-year-olds.

Some fans reacted angrily to the decision on social media, launching a campaign to keep the show alive using the hash tag “KeepBuckwildForShain” on Twitter. Cast member Cara Parrish was also among those objecting.

“I think MTV should show reality. Losing Shain broke all our hearts,’’ Parrish tweeted.

Although the idea of filming without Gandee “hurts me clear through my soul,” she wrote, “the thought of turning our backs on his dreams is worse.”

AP